EVENTS

Wine at Vinitaly has all the colours of the world

The International Wine and Spirits Exhibition (7-10 April) is also a great occasion for memorable tastings that are different and unique every year. This way of promoting wine culture seeks to help producers and buyers raise the quality bar.

Business but also a unique opportunity, guided by international experts, to taste wines that have written, are writing or will write the history of world oenology. The comparison between wines, territories and vintages helps operators in the supply chain, from producers to buyers called on to guide consumer trends, improve their tasting skills and enhance their perception of quality. Vinitaly also focuses on this aspect and the world tour in the glass during the 53rd edition of the Show is once again a not-to-be-missed journey.

Top Tastings

As ever, these are one of the distinguishing features of Vinitaly. Every edition is like a new vintage, bringing extraordinary opportunities to taste labels from all kinds of background and take part in horizontal and vertical events bound to leave their mark. And once again in 2019, the exhibition keeps faith with this reputation with the offering, in its numerous tasting rooms, of about 90 tastings (considering only the official Vinitaly list) ensuring the chance to know or analyse wines from every continent, major or niche production areas, as well as many spirits and liqueurs.

Buyers, sommeliers, oenologists, technicians, journalists and sector operators can thereby range from the well-established Tre Bicchieri appointment with Gambero Rosso involving an ideal "grand tour" among wines selected from all over Italy, to the tasting guided by Ian D'Agata in collaboration with the Women of Wine Association presenting the "revolutionary wines by young women of wine”. Another not to be missed event sees Riccardo Cotarella present "7 Wines that have made their territories great" - a tasting that aims to explain the sensory characteristics and history of seven important wines.

Top tastings organised by exhibitors this year especially include: Amarone della Valpolicella, with a series of events including the tasting celebrating the ten years of the Historical Families; the XXXI Masi Technical Seminar; Montepulciano curated by the Vino Nobile Consortium; Cirò, Morellino di Scansano and Vernaccia di San Gimignano, all organised by their respective consortia.

The Fisar rosé wine tasting is dedicated to the new international consumer trend, with 6 labels that best express the seductive colour shades, the elegance of the floral, fruity and spicy bouquets of rosé wines. On the other hand, colour turns to straw yellow in the tasting dedicated to Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Matelica and the longevity of the native grape from the Marches Region, one of the most highly regarded Italian white wines in the guide books. The master classes organised in collaboration with the Vi.Te Association and dedicated to artisan wines are the absolute innovation in the Vinitaly calendar. Cosmopolitan tastes also highlight Tasting ex ... press, a journey around the finest production areas developed by Vinitaly in collaboration with leading international wine magazines which this year including France and Slovenia among its most important focus events. The calendar with the description of tastings is available at https://www.vinitaly.com/en/events/calendar/?t=2&d=0&g=daily

Tastings in the International Wine Pavilion

Internationality is an aspect that Vinitaly follows up with detailed attention even from an exhibition standpoint - last year saw international exhibitors attend from 35 countries. The International Wine Pavilion also sees a significant increase in French companies in 2019, double the number of companies from Spain, confirmation by Australia, expanded attendance by Hungary, a new entry with Croatia and its institutional group show and twice the number of dedicated tasting rooms.

A format combining exhibition attendance with tasting initiatives that ensures opportunities to get to know, for example, not only Australian, Spanish, French, Croatian and Hungarian wines, but also the typical spirits of other cultures such as Peruvian Pisco, Rum from the Republic Dominican, Russian Vodka, Mexican Tequila or Japanese Sake.

Vinitaly and the City | 5-8 April

The off-show wine event is a fixed appointment in the agenda of wine lovers. Four days of tastings with the finest Italian and international wines paired with gourmet street food specialities. Wine, culture, meetings and entertainment come together in a unique experience in the squares and the most evocative venues in Verona - including Piazza dei Signori, Cortile Mercato Vecchio, Piazza San Zeno, Arsenale, Palazzo Carli - one of the few cities in the world whose historic centre has been entirely declared a Unesco World Heritage site. Vinitaly & the City also involves other delightful locations in the province of Verona (Bardolino, Valeggio sul Mincio and Soave) and is increasingly becoming a marvellous opportunity to meet young wine lovers and help them become aware and informed consumers.